CPA firms grab the biggest slice of PPP loan payouts, accounting for 56% of the tax and accounting industry’s imperiled jobs. (CPA Trendlines Research)
Thousands of tax prep shops, bookkeeping companies, CPA firms, and payroll services take emergency loans, promising to save over 200,000 jobs.
By CPA Trendlines Research
Some 6,610 tax, accounting, payroll, and bookkeeping firms have so far received millions of dollars in Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program loans, potentially saving over 210,613 jobs, according to new data obtained by CPA Trendlines Research.
The leading borrowers have all been CPA firms – each collecting $5 million to $10 million against a promise to save 10,298 jobs, more than half of the entire industry headcount threatened by the pandemic-fueled economic crash.
Eight new trends you can’t ignore in the new normal.
By August Aquila
Every day we get a clearer picture of what the future holds for the accounting profession, business in general and the overall population. While the future may look daunting, we will do our best to make the most of it and come out stronger. It’s what we have always done.
Nevertheless, don’t plan on the old ways coming back. I just read that more than 60,000 accountants have already lost their jobs. Perhaps, the war for talent will be over. There will be further reductions in the professional service workforce and firms will be able to pick and choose from the talent pool. READ MORE →
Profession loses four years of job growth in the first month of the Coronavirus recession, reversing years of steady gains.
By Beth Bellor
Crushed by the Covid-19 pandemic, the tax and accounting profession has fallen below 1 million employees for the first time in two years – way below, and that may be just the tip of the iceberg, according to CPA Trendlines Research.
Private sector employment decreased by 20.2 million jobs from March to April according to the April ADP National Employment Report, and that doesn’t reflect the full impact of COVID-19.
A quick scan of the data shows the hardest hit client sectors, with the smallest businesses hit particularly hard.
“Job losses of this scale are unprecedented. The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession,” says Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Additionally, it is important to note that the report is based on the total number of payroll records for employees who were active on a company’s payroll through the 12th of the month. This is the same time period the Bureau of Labor and Statistics uses for their survey.”
The tax and accounting profession was adding new jobs at a rate of 2.3 percent per year before the Coronavirus outbreak, according to CPA Trendlines Research.
But with a new recession looming, CPA Trendlines estimates the profession could lose up to 100,000 jobs and take up to seven years to recover.
The latest data available show more than a million employees in the profession, and growing at about 2,800 new jobs per month. At the same time, wages are hitting record highs.
But with the Coronavirus crisis threatening a new recession, CPA Trendlines conducted a long-term, 30-year analysis, focused on the job losses caused by the dot-com crash of 2001 and the financial meltdown of 2007. From the analysis, CPA Trendlines calculates the profession could shed up to 10 percent of its current workforce, and not fully recover for two to seven years.
^ Showing dips after the dot-com bubble in 2001 and financial crash in 2008: All tax, accounting, and bookkeeping services, all employees, in thousands, seasonally adjusted. (CPA Trendlines Research)
In this report, CPA Trendlines highlights:
Current and long-term hiring trends in each of the bookkeeping, payroll, tax and CPA segments of the industry (all data seasonally adjusted)
Average hourly wages for key segments
Typical hours worked per week
Trends concerning women in the accounting workforce
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